Would it be excessively daring, perhaps even blasphemous, to suggest that the Creator doubted that creating Mankind was such a good idea? Could He have been ambivalent about including the human race in His divine plan?<\/p>\n
Consider the following Midrash:<\/p>\n
Rabbi Simon said, When the Holy One Blessed Be He was about to create primeval Man, the heavenly angels were divided. Some said, \u201ccreate him.\u201d Others said, \u201cDon\u2019t!\u201d As it is written, \u201cKindness and Truth meet; Justice and Peace kiss (Psalms 85:11)\u201d Kindness said, \u201cCreate him for he does favors for others.\u201d But truth said, \u201cDon\u2019t, for he is all lies.\u201d Justice said, \u201cCreate him for he is often just.\u201d Peace said, \u201cDon\u2019t, for he is always belligerent.\u201d What did the Holy One do? He grasped Truth and cast it down to earth. (Midrash Rabbah Bereshit<\/em>8:5)<\/p>\nFollowing this Midrash, it would seem that the Holy One consulted with quite a divided group of \u201cadvisers\u201d regarding the wisdom of creating Mankind. Only His forceful rejection of the advice of Truth, of all things, was He able to break the deadlock. Not a propitious moment for Him to declare that the creation of Mankind was unanimously \u201cgood\u201d! Whether or not the creation of Mankind was indeed a good idea or not seems to have remained debatable long after the Six Days of Creation. This brings us to another Rabbinic text, this time the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Eruvin<\/em> 13b:<\/p>\nFor two- and one-half years, the debate between the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel raged. One said that it would have been better for Man never to have been created rather than to have been created. The other said that it is better that he was created than had he not been created. Finally, they took a vote and decided that indeed he should not have been created, but now that he is created, he should examine (yefashfesh<\/em>) his actions, whereas others advocate that he should be discriminative (yemashmesh<\/em>) in his actions.<\/p>\nThere are various opinions as to the difference between yefashfesh<\/em> and yemashmesh<\/em>. Rashi defines the former as examining one\u2019s past actions and correcting those that were inappropriate, whereas the latter refers to choosing carefully between current moral choices.<\/p>\nRabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato presents a different approach, a much more subtle one, and perhaps one that is more relevant nowadays. Contemplate the following quotation from the third chapter of Mesilat<\/em> Yesharim<\/em>:<\/p>\nThese two admonitions (yefashfesh<\/em> versus yemashmesh<\/em>) are both sound and helpful. The first calls for a broad introspective survey of all of one\u2019s activities to determine which ones are improper, and perhaps even sinful, and to eliminate those practices. The second calls for an examination even of one\u2019s commendable actions, of one\u2019s good deeds. One must determine whether these well-intentioned behaviors were prompted by questionable motives, perhaps for selfish reasons or even nefarious schemes. This would be like the manner in which one often touches and feels the fabric of his clothing to determine whether it is still strong or worn out and needs to be discarded. The general rule is to review all of one\u2019s activities periodically so as not to allow bad habits to fester and take root.<\/p>\nWe remain with our initial dilemma. Did the Almighty consider the creation of Mankind to be good, or did He in some sense suspend judgement in view of the conflicting advice of His angels Justice, Kindness, Truth, and Peace?<\/p>\n
It is here that we are well advised to consult the wisest of all men, King Solomon, whose words in Kohelet<\/em> (Ecclesiastes 4:1-4) read:<\/p>\nI further observed all the oppression that goes on under the sun: the tears of the oppressed, with none to comfort them; and the power of their oppressors\u2014with none to comfort them. Then I accounted those who died long since more fortunate than those who are still living; and happier than either are those who have not yet come into being and who have never witnessed the miseries that go on under the sun.<\/p>\n
Many have been discouraged by these words of Kohelet<\/em>. But I choose to look at his words as true, but as limited to certain periods in our lives or to certain eras in human history. These are times that promote despair and desperation. But it is our task to hope, to be resilient, to have courage and to change our conditions for the better. We have the power and the divine gift of creativity to overcome the darkest of realities.<\/p>\nAs I write these words, the Jewish nation is at war with no satisfactory end in sight. We are beset by hostility at every turn. It is this kind of evil and hatred that helps explain Almighty\u2019s reluctance to call humanity good! But I take solace in the following words of Kohelet<\/em> himself:<\/p>\n\u201cBut see, this I did find: the Lord made men upright and honorable, but they sought out all sorts of crooked plots.\u201d (Ecclesiastes 7:29, my translation.)<\/p>\n
My personal conclusion is that the Almighty made us neither good nor evil. Rather, He made us \u201cupright and honorable (yashar<\/em>).\u201d We can steer our direction in life in a multitude of \u201coff the road\u201d directions, or we can choose to remain yashar<\/em>: honest, moral, beneficent, generous, empathetic, modest, and humble before the Almighty. Then He will extract the word \u201cgood\u201d from His infinite lexicon and the world will be tov me\u2019od<\/em>\u2014very, very good indeed.<\/p>\n
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